Should We Take More from the Rich and Less From the Poor?

Here’s a story that might put a smile on the face of our Welsh readers. Leading economist Gerry Holtham has made a proposition to the Welsh Government that they should radically reform the state of council tax. The current system in Wales charges council tax on the lowest band properties that amount to nearly 1.9% of the overall value of the property whilst those properties that are worth more than £424,000 the council tax level is just above 0.5% of the capital value. Gerry Holtham argues that the government should ‘make the rich pay more, and the poor pay less’, a concept that is bound to please the lower earning home owners and patrons of the income inequality.

The Welsh Government has responded by saying that they’re happy to listen to Gerry Holtham’s propositions, which, we think is a very promising response. It means that they are at least willing to give him an audience and consider his ideas. And if his current comments are anything to go by, he has some smart economic guidance for the Welsh Government and could potentially help out owners of lower band properties.

It is good to see that those with economic knowledge are out there to try and make things better for the people rather than just working to build large amounts of money for themselves. There are a lot of good councils too that are working hard to ensure that they get the right balance of council tax prices for property owners and tenants, and ensuring that they have enough money to maintain the area under their jurisdiction.

That is the position of the councils – they are put in place to ensure that the area over which they preside has a good quality of living, and whilst some changes need to be made to properly ensure that owners and tenants aren’t struggling these things take time, and until then they must press to make sure they make their budget. Whilst this system is in place, owners and tenants can be negatively affected. Whilst they are, Council Tax Advisors are here to help.

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